3 Tips To Help Save Your Tenants Money On Their Energy Bills
An easy and effective way to attract good tenants to your rental home who are willing to stick around is to ensure that they're comfortable while living there, and that they do not have to spend an arm and a leg on utility bills throughout their tenancy. The following three tips will help you to increase both the comfort factor and the energy savings of your rental home:
Have the Air Conditioner Checked
The air conditioner plays an important role in maintaining a regular temperature within the home. When it is clogged, broken, or under strain from too much wear and tear, it has to work really hard to try and get its job done. This can easily result in higher energy bills each month.
To avoid trouble with the air conditioner, and make sure that it doesn't consume more energy than it needs, have it inspected and serviced by a professional right before new tenants move in, and once or twice a year while they're living there. Your service provider should:
- Clean and inspect the condenser unit.
- Check and replace refrigerant if needed.
- Test for leaks and seal any that are apparent.
- Measure the evaporator coil's airflow.
- Tighten the electrical connections.
- Adjust and clean all of the blower components.
You may also want to head over and take care of a few maintenance tasks once a month or so to ensure ongoing proper function of the air conditioning system. Take the time to brush dirt from the coils and drains, and recharge the refrigerant. It's also important to change the air filters on a regular basis to benefit the health and wallets of your tenants.
Incorporate Some Extra Insulation
The walls, windows, and doors, in your home can all let air in if they aren't properly insulated, resulting in increased energy bills and less humidity control. In addition to having the basement and attic professionally insulated, you can improve the home's energy efficiency with these techniques:
- Use caulking or spray foam insulation around the window and door frames.
- Install insulation film on the windows.
- Install weather stripping around doors.
- Paint the roof with a sealant to prevent leakage into the home.
These are all do-it-yourself projects that should be easy to implement into the regular preparation chores you already have lined up for the home.
Install a Few Ceiling Fans Indoors
Ceiling fans afford extra comfort within the home and help to reduce heating and cooling costs throughout the year. Install ceiling fans only in rooms where a lot of foot traffic is expected, like in the bedrooms and the living room for the most comfort and convenience. For maximum benefits, the fans should be used as follows:
- During summer months, the fan should spin in a counterclockwise direction to push air down into the room and make those in the space feel cooler.
- During winter months, the fan should spin in a clockwise direction to draw cooler air from the lower parts of the room into the warm air up top to help maintain a warmer atmosphere overall.
- Fans should be turned off during the summer when nobody is in the room to benefit from the cool breeze they produce.
It is important to learn more and make sure that the ceiling fans are installed with no less than a 12 degree angle, or they will not effectively move air around no matter how fast they are going. Shoot for a 14 degree angle during installation to ensure plenty of air flow while avoiding any possibilities that the flow will overwhelm any given space.
You don't have to implement all of these ideas into your rental home in order to make a noticeable difference in the quality of life that your renters will experience while living there.
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